Rio de Janeiro - A Boeing 777-200 operated by Alitalia, with 295 people on board, made an unplanned landing Thursday in the north- eastern Brazilian city of Recife, due to mechanical problems on the flight from Rome to Buenos Aires.

Brazil's airport authority Infraero said the landing was completed without further problems at 2:15 am (0515 GMT), after the pilot informed the control tower that he was having "technical problems." No one was injured.

New York - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday called for advanced economies to get a hold of the global financial crisis and criticized market speculators for putting global growth at risk.

Lula warned that the turmoil brought on by the "boundless greed" of investors could not be allowed to spread to the entire world, in an address before the United Nations General Assembly.

London  - An inquest opened in Britain Monday into the accidental shooting by police of a Brazilian man they believed was a terrorist in the immediate aftermath of the London tube and bus bombings in July 2005.

Relatives of 27-year-old Jean Charles de Menezes had demanded the inquest, which is presided over by a judge and will be heard by a jury of ordinary men and women who will decide whether or not de Menezes was "unlawfully killed."

It provides the first opportunity for members of de Menezes' family to question those involved in his death.

The hearing, expected to last three months, takes place in a specially-erected courtroom at the Oval cricket ground in south London, near where de Menezes was shot on July 22, 2005.

Rio de Janeiro - A 77-year-old Brazilian former model who was the young love of US Republican presidential candidate John McCain has been found by a newspaper in the South American country.

Maria Garcinda Tedixeira de Jesus met McCain in 1957 while he was in Rio de Janeiro on leave from his Navy ship. At the time, he was still a cadet at the US Naval Academy. He spent every free minute with the Brazilian beauty and describes the encounter in his 1999 memoir Faith of my Fathers.

Washington, Aug 29 : Reese Witherspoon has spoken against domestic violence during her recent visit to Brazil.

The Legally Blonde star is touring the South American country as part of her duties as she is the global ambassador of Speak Out Against Domestic Violence campaign.

The initiative was launched by the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Avon cosmetics company in 2004.

And Witherspoon is hoping her involvement will help stamp out the abuse of women - insisting she herself has been close to people who were the victims of domestic violence.